Basingstoke has tenth worst recycling rate in Britain

7:00pm Sunday 13th January 2013 in Basingstoke By Adam Richards

Lastest Government figures show recycling rates still have plenty of room for improvement in the Basingstoke area Lastest Government figures show recycling rates still have plenty of room for improvement in the Basingstoke area

BASINGSTOKE and Deane Borough Council is the 10th worst district in Britain for recycling household rubbish, the latest Government figures show.

An annual review of recycling published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) shows that the borough recycled 23.95 per cent of household waste during the 2011-12 financial year.

This ranks the council 343 out of 352 authorities in the UK, and 12th out of the 13 Hampshire local councils, with only unitary authority Southampton a worse performer.

The good news is that more recent regional figures from the borough council suggest that Basingstoke and Deane has jumped higher up the county league table.

The total recycling rate hit 26.05 per cent in October 2012, and Basingstoke has now jumped above Rushmoor, Portsmouth, and Southampton in the recycling rate league table.

This boost has been attributed to the council’s move in October 2011 to share its bin collection service with Hart District Council and the introduction of kerbside glass recycling.

However, the fact remains that Basingstoke and Deane has a long, long way to go to challenge some of the country’s top recyclers – such as the Vale of the White Horse District Council in Oxfordshire which topped the national league with 68.7 per cent of all household rubbish recycled.

A number of initiatives have been announced to help boost recycling in Basingstoke and Deane. In a report to the borough’s housing and environment overview and scrutiny committee, officers outlined a 12-point plan to bump up the recycling rate.

Some of the ideas tabled included investigating the possibility of food waste recycling, boosting the take up the optional garden waste service by 20 per cent, and trying to recycle more rubbish by street cleaning teams.

“It is good that we have now the highest increase in Hampshire over the last period,” said the borough’s environment chief Councillor Robert Donnell.

“I think it’s very good we are not the last in Hampshire. Do we want to get it better? Yes. Will that take cross-party support in implementing new services? Yes.

“If we have got that support for introducing new services, that will be a great step forward to hitting those percentages.”

Comments(15)

theKman says...
8:35pm Sun 13 Jan 13

Step 1 would be to swap the bin collections. Green bin should be every week with black every other. I don't bother to put the black bin out on its own as its only 1/3rd full, but the green bin is overflowing

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jbee37 says...
9:40am Mon 14 Jan 13

I think the current bin collection/recycling arrangements are perfectly adequate. The glass collection is a wellcome addition, but extra bins for food waste etc, would be too much. Anymore bins than at present would become an eyesore on bin collection day especially when you get people who insist on putting bins out the previous evening, or those who leave them out for a couple of days afterwards. If the council want to increase recycle rates, they should find a way of recycling petr-pak cartons and yogurt pot type plastics.

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Chris-jg says...
10:25am Mon 14 Jan 13

Weekly green bin collections and a wider range of things that can be recycled would fix this.

My (large) green bin is usually full after 1 week so overflow goes into the black bin. I don't have the space to keep the rubbish until the next collection, or for another bin to put it in.

It is not only due to residents not recycling, but the limited range of allowable recyclable materials and bi-weekly collections that cause this low recycling rate.

If the council want us to recycle more then expand the range of what we can recycle, and collect the bins every week. If they don't spend the money to achieve this then they are tacitly accepting that the recycling rate is acceptable given these restrictions.

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jonone says...
12:32pm Mon 14 Jan 13

I live on a new development, the masterplan for which stated all houses would have dedicated, enclosed storage for bins. This hasn't been provided, so bin storage for most people is not easy. Need to be able to put more in the green bin. Where I used to live, we had big wheelie bins that we could fill with all sorts, plastic bottles, glass bottles, cans etc. We had boxes, with lids, for paper and card, which worked very well.

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Sam_Walker123456 says...
1:35pm Mon 14 Jan 13

Although I do not condone it, I can see why some people do not even bother trying to recycle - it is not easy.
We can put Paper, Cardboard, Plastic Bottles (but not their lids), Cans (including empty aerosol cans provided they do not display the skull and crossbones) in our green bins.
We can also recycle glass using the separate tub recently introduced.
But we have to put all the following in the grey bin: Mixed Plastic Packaging (such as yoghurt pots, food trays and margerine tubs) because there is no UK demand; Juice Cartons (such as Tetra Paks) because they are made from a mixture materials which cannot be separated; Shredded Paper because it cannot be sorted; Aluminium Foil because it is not aluminium (but it will be accepted at foil banks); Food Wrappers (such as used on sweets and biscuits); Plastic Carrier Bags; Polystyrene and Cellophane.
In my house this equates to about 30% of packaging can be recycled and 70% cannot.
I do not think the answer is not only getting better at recycling but also introducing legislation to only allow packaging which can be economically and easily recycled in the UK.

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Sam_Walker123456 says...
1:40pm Mon 14 Jan 13

Sorry above comment full of errors. The last and biggest is the final paragraph which should start, 'I think the answer is not only to get better at recycling but also to introduce legislation.....'

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Beats108 says...
8:54pm Mon 14 Jan 13

I see on a day to day basis what people recycle, Sam_Walkers123456 comments are true certain plastic packaging cannot be recycled, the government have to sort this out and we know how they work. But some people just dont think what they put in there bins: Used Soiled Nappies, Car Parts, Clothes, Food Waste not to name the odd used tampons and condoms. These are the sort of things that are going through now wonder the figures are bad with a town the size of Basingstoke probably 1 in 3 bins have illegal recycling products in them. Only way to resolve this is that Local councils provide clear cut relevant information for the customers!!

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Jonty11 says...
1:12pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Do our politicians (and I mean all of them, not just the ruling administration) really care about recycling rates?

If they were committed to increasing recycling - they would do what just about every other council in the county has done and introduce alternative weekly collection.

Whilst the points raised above may be valid - the same recycling issues apply across the county and residents there cope.

Question is....what makes Basingstoke "special" (or should that be special needs) that they cannot cope with alternative weekly collection like the rest of the county?

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BasTran says...
1:56pm Wed 16 Jan 13

We've got to agree with Jonty11. Why does Basingtsoke Council have to be different. Most other councils collect on an alternative week basis. It's cheaper; more efficient and increases recycling rates. Oh and it reduces the amount of stuff wasted as well. As far as we can tell all three major parties in the Town are against this. Why?

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robertspet8 says...
2:04pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Jonty11, I do not think our politicians do care about the actual recycling rate or Basingstoke's position in any national league table. I believe the main driver is cost. That is why they will not attempt to recycle mixed plastic packaging, whereas in other parts of the country it can be recycled.

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Beats108 says...
2:48pm Wed 16 Jan 13

It all and well saying do a weekly collection for Recycling but if you do this you will need to build more recycling plants to process the goods which means your COUNCIL TAX goes up as well to cover the costs of this, run the lorries and pay staff etc etc it just aint a simple task for a dustcart to come get your bin collect and tip it, there more behind the scenes that I think a few people do not understand this

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BasTran says...
7:48pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Beats108. If only that where true. All our recycled waste is sorted and sold to be turned into other goods. This actually reduces our council tax. You can find out more here http://www3.hants.go
v.uk/waste-and-recyc
ling/what-happens.ht
m.

We could reduce our Council Tax by not collecting any waste and by the same logic we can reduce our water rates by not pumping away our sewage. But that's not a very sensible thing to do.

Of course we have to pay for our waste to be taken away. The sensible thing to do is 1. Reduce the amount of waste we produce 2. Reuse what we can. 3. Recycle what is left.

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Beats108 says...
8:21pm Fri 18 Jan 13

BasTran

I know what happens to our Recycling as I work within the Trade. It not as simple as collect, tip and sort out as what the hants web site says, it does not go straight to where it has to be sorted, it is tipped at sites around Hampshire then transported when the space is available at the site where it is processed. To make the recycling work the people in the houses have to help by not putting the non recycling waste in the recycling bin this then reduces the time frame that is taken to sort the waste from the recycling materials.

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JJ38JJ says...
11:47am Sat 19 Jan 13

Beats108 wrote:
It all and well saying do a weekly collection for Recycling but if you do this you will need to build more recycling plants to process the goods which means your COUNCIL TAX goes up as well to cover the costs of this, run the lorries and pay staff etc etc it just aint a simple task for a dustcart to come get your bin collect and tip it, there more behind the scenes that I think a few people do not understand this
Surely a recyling facility is far better use of land than a landfill site? The recycling facility can be used 'forever' but the landfill fills up and can never be used for anything else again. And then they have to find another suitable site.

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Beats108 says...
12:19pm Sat 19 Jan 13

It does go to a recycling facility eventually, just gets tipped at various sites around the county awaiting collection.

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